Chapter Five

As Joe came into the office, Charlene saw him coming down the hall. He was tall enough, about five foot eleven. He had rather wide shoulders and an athletic body. She had dreamed of that body when asleep and the other Charlene took over her dreams. That Charlene was afraid of nothing and would do anything to get Joe. She had dome many things to him and with him that Charlene had only dreamed of. Some barely legal. Sadly when Charlene was awake that other Charlene was no where to be found.

As Joe came into his office and talked with his other coworkers, Charlene heard his low, kind voice. it soothed her. The fact that Joe was marrying someone else made these conversations difficult but she loved talking with him. She watched his lips move while he talked. Sometimes she hardly heard him as she watched him speak. Now some of that awkwardness was gone along with Suzan’s departure.

Charlene knew she would be able to take the time off when Joe was in Africa. He was the biggest part of her job. He was her main priority at work after all. The little work she did for the other editors could be picked up easily by the other women in the secretarial pool, so why not go with him. She wouldn’t tell a soul if he agreed to let her come along, of course.

“Good morning Charlene, how are we today,” Joe said as he passed her desk. “Fine Mr. Morgan, just another day in a cold paradise.” “I think I have come to a decision, Charlene, regarding our conversation. After our day is finished, I’ld like you to come to my office. We will have a long talk about this issue.”

Charlene was elated, confused and disappointed all at the same time. “Why couldn’t he just give her an answer as he walked past her?” she wondered. Then she noticed the five women seated nearby in their cubicles working in near silence and understood.

The morning dragged by with phone calls from a self serving agent and a long conversation with an author not quite ready for prim time. It was a typical day except for the hard thumping of her heart under her very expensive silk blouse.

She could afford any type of clothing she wanted but tried to keep a low profile among her workmates. “No need to create jealousy or envy among those working next to her,” she mussed. She underdressed if the truth be known, but what she wore was of the finest quality. Her mother had taught her the value of fine clothing versus, “those rags that others wear.” Yes, her mother was real card, even when sober, which wasn’t often in the last few years.

Lunch finally arrived and she grabbed her purse and walked by Joe’s office looking for a clue of some sort. He looked up at her as she passed and smiled that smile of his. Charlene felt a glimmer of hope in her heart with that smile appearing on Joe’s face.

She took the elevator down to the wide street and heard the blaring of the taxi horns and heard tires rolling on wet pavement. They were the sounds of the holidays approaching. She watched the light snowfall drift down slowly around her as she turned left as she did most days at lunch time.

The thought of the holidays weren’t soothing for Charlene. She had spent most with her mother in her large home, alone except for “mother.” She sometimes came to see her father, but often he and his new wife were away. His new wife didn’t like the cold of the city and preferred the south of France, her home.

Charlene walked the hundred and thirty-nine steps to those old green double doors and walked in. The paint was still pealing on them and on the frames of the two windows on either side of the doors. The gold leaf lettering on the two windows spelled out “Sparks Delicatessen.” She often wondered about the name and decided it was a very old eastern European name sliced and diced for American consumption, just like the food inside. She thought she might have a bowl of soup and a cup of coffee today, just like almost every other day.

It was small inside and a few booths remained empty. She found one near the back where it was warmer and took off her long coat purchased at the Henrik Vibskov Boutique. She loved that place because it was always a surprise as to what one might find their. The shoppers and staff were interesting there as well.

The old owner of the deli saw her and waved as she passed by. They had known each other since Charlene started working in the high rise next door. Charlene supposed the owner lived upstairs. The service was quick considering how slowly “Katherine” walked. The food was better than most in the area, or so Charlene had decided after trying many places over the last few years. Charlene knew all about “the old lady” as many called Katherine. She had lost her husband years ago and had gone on with the help of her son, Charles. It had been hard but they had survived.

This was where Charlene usually ended up for lunch. She usually sat in this same small table for two in the rear. The furniture and the floor showed how long this place had been in this neighborhood. Suzan thought it had been there for a couple of hundred years. The concrete floor under the tile was visible in the path where perhaps a million people had come in for lunch,” or so she had thought more than once.

There was little time to wander too far for lunch with just a short forty minutes to eat. She had discovered this little spot of serenity in the fast paced city years ago on a rainy afternoon. She ordered a pastrami sandwich and a cup of coffee after searching for something different on the menu. Charlene thought today was a special day. “This day may be the beginning of a new life,” or so Charlene hoped.

After eating half of the sandwich and a final sip of her coffee, Charlene headed back to her office with the sandwich in her purse. She found her way to her desk and pulled up the calendar on her computer, again. She had done this hundreds of times before trying to get Joe’s honeymoon plans in order after all the changes that Suzan kept making. No wonder Joe had been stressed out.

Charlene looked up at the grey ceiling and mulled over her chances of going on this trip with Joe. She looked at the clock and saw that she had four hours and seventeen minutes to wait. It wold be a long wait.

She went back to work and was soon, deep into a project and had forgotten that Joe was going to call her to his office at the end of the day. That’s how her brain worked. She could easily get lost in detailed work or worry over matters of little importance.

When that task was completed, she noticed that over two hours had passed quickly by. She, Joe and all those around her were busy closing out accounts and doing everything necessary to close out the year. Authors needed to get paid and travel arrangements had to be finalized for the new year. They had much to do with all of the writers they were working with in the last few weeks before the Christmas Holidays.

She saw a woman walk by her over the top of her cubicle. It was one of the editors walking by for a meeting. She had a bundle of manila envelopes held in her arms.

Charlene often sat and watched the pedestrians far below her and the cars coming and going after all of her work was done. She wondered what their lives were like. Were they as frightened by life as she was? She often daydreamed of Joe and other things that were important to her. She felt that she sat as a gatekeeper to Joe’s office. She felt protective of him, now more than ever. She had a peasant feeling in heart now. It had been heavy for several months.

The relationship between Joe and Suzan was officially over now, but Joe was still going to Africa. Might she go with him in a working capacity, instead?

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What do you suppose Joe has decided? I think I know.

He’s just been thrown over. Is it time to get close and to start a relationship with a work mate? That’s always a tough decision.

What is Suzan up to? Tomorrow is another day.

If you like this, you’ll love “Mrs. Vee.” She looks sweet but she’s packing a gun in her favorite purse as she rides the buses in L.A. looking for the men who killed her husband. The police seem less than uninterested, or so Mrs. Vee thinks.

This book by R.C. Hand and several more are available on Amazon.

Happy Holidays.